3:22pm: The recent winning streak among materials stocks has finally pulled the resources sector out of the red for 2012, up 0.3 per cent for the year.

Among the sectors, energy jumped 1.2 per cent, telecommunications rose 0.9 per cent and materials added 0.6 per cent. Gold miners continued their bad run, down 2.5 per cent.

3:16pm: The market has finished higher, pushing to its best close for the year. The benchmark S&P/ASX200 jumped 22.6 points, or 0.5 per cent, to 4617.8, while the broader All Ords added 22.7 points, or 0.5 per cent, to 4633.2.

3:00pm: Here's a few traders speculating on Oz Minerals:

@chrisweston_ig - It's weird. Big vols too... Something is wrong. Copper was only off a touch last night & look at Sandfire (SFR) up 4%...

2:40pm: Oz Minerals is down 9.1 per cent at $6.76, with 4.6 million shares traded today, nearly three times the average.

Any readers out there have an insight on this drop?

2:32pm: ASIC's deputy chairwoman, Belinda Gibson, will leave the corporate watchdog when her appointment expires in May next year, the government revealed on Wednesday. Ms Gibson has been a commissioner at the Australian Securities and Investments Commission since November 2007 and deputy chair since May 2010.

"On behalf of the Government, I would like to thank Ms Gibson for her valuable service and her commitment to the work of ASIC,'' parliamentary secretary to the Tresurer, Bernie Ripoll, said.

The government will start looking for a replacement, Mr Ripoll confirmed.

2:28pm: As we approach the final half hour of trade, here's a look at how markets around the region are doing:

Nikkei(Japan): +1.7%

Shanghai: -0.2%

Taiwan: +0.3%

South Korea: +0.5%

Singapore: flat

New Zealand: +1.1%

2:17pm:The World Bank says economic growth in developing East Asia is expected to pick up next year but considerable risks remain, including the possibility of a sharp drop in investment growth in China.

The Washington-based lender said in a report on Wednesday that the region will expand by 7.9 per cent in 2013 after growing 7.5 per cent this year. The bank said East Asia remained resilient despite the lacklustre global economy and will contribute almost 40 per cent of global growth in 2012.

The report covers countries like China, Indonesia and Thailand but excludes Japan.

The World Bank predicts China’s economy will expand 7.9 per cent this year before accelerating to 8.4 per cent in 2013, powered by government stimulus spending and faster approval of big investment projects.

2:05pm: ANZ shareholders have voted in support of the bank’s executive remuneration for 2011-12.

A preliminary count announced during the meeting in Perth showed that 85.91 per cent of shares were in favour of the remuneration report.

Before the vote, John Campbell of the Australian Shareholder Association told the board they were voting against the remuneration report, saying that chief executive Mr Smith had an "excessive level of remuneration". He also questioned the structure of incentive schemes.

Chairman Mr Morschel said while he understood shareholders thought Mr Smith was taking home "a lot of money", the "last thing we want to do is lose Mr Smith to a competitor".

It was reported today that Mr Smith took home almost $20 million this financial year, nearly double the remuneration package he was reported to have been paid.

Mr Crouch has been the chairman of Allens law firm since 2009, and prior to that was the firm’s co-head of mergers and acquisitions.

He will step down from his role at Allens on January 31, and join Westpac as an independent non-executive director on February 1.

1:41pm: More from the ANZ annual meeting, Mr Morschel has defended ANZ’s funding of resources companies such as Whitehaven.

In response to a questions from a shareholder and Greenpeace representative’s question about why ANZ is financing such firms, he says the bank only supports them after approval from state and federal governments, and following an internal regulatory examination.

He said the coal-fire power industry provided 75 per cent of electricity in Australia and it was ‘‘completely irresponsible’’ to refuse funding to these companies once the checks and government approvals were in place.

‘‘Sooner or later we have to make compromises. ... We do consider it, we take it very seriously, then we make a decision,’’ Mr Morschel said.

1:31pm: First laughter of the day at the ANZ annual meeting comes after a plea from a shareholder who tells asks Chairman John Morschel: ‘‘See if you can do away with Simon Baker on those ads. It just gets up my nose.’’

Mr Morschel replied that there were ‘‘polarised views’’ in relation to the Australian actor's television spot, but that current polling suggested more positive than negative feedback. (Baker plays his character from The Mentalist television show - with an American accent.)

1:25pm:Business sentiment among Asia's top companies improved slightly in the fourth quarter, reversing two consecutive quarters of declines, while global economic uncertainty remained the biggest concern for the region's firms, a Thomson Reuters/INSEAD survey showed.

The Thomson Reuters/INSEAD Asia Business Sentiment Index rose to 63 in the fourth quarter from 62 in the third quarter of 2012, having peaked at 80 in the first quarter of 2011. A reading above 50 indicates an overall positive outlook, while one below 50 points to pessimism.

The result showed a stark contrast between companies in Southeast Asia, a region of about 600 million people now benefiting from an increase in foreign investment, and manufacturing-heavy northeast Asia, which is more susceptible to the global economic outlook.

China, where exports support an estimated 200 million jobs, showed the most positive response in the northeast Asian region, but companies in other export-focused economies such as Japan, South Korea and Taiwan remained more cautious.

1:21pm: Billabong executive, Paul Naude, and his associates confirmed their $527 million bid for the embattled retailer is still alive despite today’s downgrade and the offer becoming public - breaching to conditions of the proposal.

Billabong said its board is now considering the offer, and its terms, after receiving written confirmation from Mr Naude that the ‘‘indicative, non-binding and conditional proposal from his consortium’’ to acquire Billabong at $1.10 per share ‘‘remains unchanged’’.

1:15pm: Gold miners are continuing their bad run this week:

Gold miners: -2.3%

Telecommunications: -0.2%

IT: +1.7%

Materials: +0.4%

Energy: +0.8%

1:07pm:Two BP rig supervisors charged with manslaughter in the death of 11 workers on the Deepwater Horizon will go on trial in 2014.

US District Judge Standwood Duval Jr. has put off the trial of Robert Kaluza and Donald Vidrine until January 13, 2014.

They’re accused of disregarding high pressure readings that should have been indications of trouble before BP’s well blowout.

Prosecutors say they expect to provide more than a million pages of information to the defence.

12:58pm:Cyprus has taken the extraordinary step of dipping into public authority pension funds to pay salaries for December but it still teeters precariously on the brink while waiting for EU bailout money.

The eurozone member was forced to request the bailout in June when its two largest banks asked for assistance after failing to meet EU capital criteria as a result of massive exposure to toxic Greek debt.

‘‘The government is living hand to mouth and will keep on doing so until money comes from international creditors but there is still a risk of everything collapsing,’’ said analyst Fiona Mullen.

A finance ministry official told parliament on Monday that the government could not meet its bumper December wage bill -- which includes so-called 13th month bonuses -- unless it was loaned around 250 million euros from cash-rich quangos.

Employees were reluctant to heed the call, fearing that, if their pension funds were used to buy government bonds, then their entitlements might fall victim to a Greek-style ‘‘haircut’’ further down the line.

But the government struck deals with the boards of the electricity, telecommunications and ports authorities to borrow around 250 million euros ($316.30 million) in the short term.

12:47pm: ANZ says local and global economic conditions will remain soft in 2013, with political uncertainty adding to concerns.

Chairman John Morschel told shareholders at the bank’s annual general meeting that a global economic recovery was proving frustratingly weak.

‘‘Increasingly, political developments and political risk around the globe will be a key feature shaping the 2013 outlook,’’ he told the meeting. ‘‘In Australia, the key challenge is weakening mining investment as softer commodity prices, high labour costs, policy uncertainty and the high Australian dollar all work against new investment projects.

‘‘At the same time, there is little evidence of the weaker sectors of the economy such as retail, housing and manufacturing recovering sufficiently to pick up the slack.

‘‘Together with weak business and consumer confidence, this leaves overall business conditions in the economy softer.’’

12:29pm: Is there anything more romantic than a relationship rekindled after a long and heart-sore separation? Neil Clark Warren doesn’t think so. Warren is the 78-year-old founder of EHarmony and he's taking back control of the ailing online matchmaker. But his strategy is more about tough love than bouquets. Bloomberg reports:

Since becoming chief executive officer in July after a series of CEO changes, he’s fired 100 people, cut the board from nine to two and bought back stock from Sequoia Capital and Technology Crossover Ventures, which invested $110 million in 2004.

“Building a relationship business is so different from trying to build something with machines or widgets,” said Warren, who’s been chairman of EHarmony’s board from the beginning. “To put it in the hands of people that only want to look at it as a source of business success, revenue success doesn’t make sense anymore.”

Not that Warren views EHarmony and its $60 monthly subscriptions as a nonprofit. If run correctly, he says the company can be worth $1 billion in two years and $5 billion in five years.

12:11pm:Billabong is still leading the market lower. The stock has fallen as much as 15 per cent, but is now down 10.51 per cent.

Ten Network is strongly higher today - up 5.36% - and is set to post its sixth straight day of gains. Since Tuesday last week, it has risen from 25 cents to 29.25 cents following an almost 10 per cent fall on the Monday after it came out of a trading halt after announcing its latest capital raising.

Whitehaven is strongly higher today despite denying it had received a takeover offer from China’s largest coal company, Shenhua Group. Whitehaven did confirm it had been talking with Shenhua.

12:00pm:A bit more on BHP's 2012. The stock opened the year $34.42 before rising above $38 by early Feb, then spent the best part of five months slipping to its 2012 low of $30.09 in mid July. Since then, however, the stocks has added $6.87 is curently trading at $36.87.

Does anyone have a view on how the world's biggest miner will fare on the ASX next year?

11:52am: One of the really solid performers of the second half of 2012, BHP is having a Santa rally all its own:

BHP Billiton $BHP improving for 11th staight session & is trading at best level since Feb 2012. $BHP shares are up 7.3% in Dec. ^SD

11:33am: While just about everything else is up, the Aussie dollar is being contrary and sliding back towards $US1.05.

A short time ago, the local unit was trading at $US1.0513, down from $US1.0534.

National Australia Bank co-head of foreign exchange strategy Ray Attrill said positive indicators in Europe had boosted the region’s currency, driving the Australian dollar down. At noon, the Australian dollar was trading at 79.48 euro cents, its lowest point since mid-October.

‘‘There’s been a fairly broad-based rally in the euro last night, and that’s working to keep currencies like the Aussie and the Kiwi relatively contained,’’ he said.

‘‘I think there are various things supporting Europe: Standard & Poor upgraded Greece by six notches; Spain sold more treasury bills in its regular auction yesterday than they were targeting, and at lower rates.

‘‘Then, overall, the market’s more risk-positive, because of rising confidence that we might get a deal on the fiscal cliff.’’

11:17am: Intrepid Mines top brass have broken their silence over the intrigue in Indonesia, claiming that unscrupulous local interests are stealing their gold mine, Michael West writes:

Chief executive Brad Gordon confirmed Monday’s story in BusinessDay that the ownership of the massive Tujuh Bukit project has been transferred to other parties. In a statement released late yesterday, Gordon and his chairman Ian McMaster said the company was working with Indonesian police to get the mine back.

Intrepid lost control of the project in July when its joint venture partners - an Indonesian couple Maya Ambarsari and Reza Nazaruddin – seized the site and ordered Intrepid workers to evacuate.

In last night’s dramatic press release, Intrepid claims Maya and Reza have been working in cahoots with powerful businessmen Edwin Soeryadjaya and Garibaldi Thohir, hedge funds Provident Capital and Quantum Pacific Capital, two Singapore stockbrokers and Australian entrepreneur Paul Willis to hoodwink the company and wrest control of the 25 million ounce gold project.

11:11am: More on coal but rather bad news for the sector: more than 100 mine workers have been sacked from the Isaac Plains coal mine in central Queensland, a union says.

CFMEU district president Stephen Smyth says the full-time contract workers have been told they’re out of a job, less than a week before Christmas. He says the decision, affecting 108 workers, is short sighted and the timing terrible.

‘‘(They) could be doing better by their workforce rather than forcing the sacking of a large swathe of them during the hardest time of the year for miners to find new employment,’’ Smyth says. ‘‘This knee-jerk decision goes to the heart of mining companies focusing on maintaining boom-time profits as coal prices come off the boil.’’

The mine is owned by Brazilian mining giant Vale and Japan’s Sumitomo, and is operated by John Holland.

11:05am: Coal is set to overtake oil as the world’s biggest energy source within a decade unless policies are changed, the International Energy Agency says.

Demand for the polluting fuel in China and India will continue to drive world usage, accounting for almost two-thirds of global coal demand by 2030, the agency says. The relentless growth, which would imperil attempts to cut global carbon emissions, can only be stemmed if the coal is displaced by cheap gas, as seen with the US shale gas boom, it says.

Electricity prices, which are affected by coal prices, could feel the ‘‘disproportionate impact of a few decisions taken in China and India’’, it warned.

The report, which predicts trends in the coal market to 2017, suggests coal demand will reach the energy equivalent of 4.32 billion tonnes of oil by that year - narrowly below 4.4 billion tonnes of demand for oil itself.

10:52am:Japanese stocks have extended their rally, opening 1 per cent higher, boosted by the weaker yen and a rally on Wall Street where optimism is growing that a deal to avert the fiscal cliff is in sight.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index at the Tokyo Stock Exchange added 100.39 points to 10,023.40 at the start of trade.

Meanwhile, the country's trade deficit in November expanded 37.9 per cent year-on-year to $US11.3 billion ($10.8 billion), a record for the month, in a worrying sign for the world’s third-largest economy.

The trade shortfall came to 953.4 billion yen, marking the fifth straight month of deficit and a widening from a year-earlier deficit of 691.2 billion yen. Overall, exports fell 4.1 per cent while imports edged up 0.8 per cent.

10:45am: Whitehaven Coal’s shares have shot up as much as 6 per cent amid market speculation that China’s largest coal company, Shenhua Group, could make a takeover offer.

Whitehaven shares have been battered in recent months due to the depressed coal price and concerns about its debt-laden largest shareholder Nathan Tinkler’s 21.4 per cent stake.

Responding to speculation about Shenhua approaching Whitehaven with an offer to sell its Watermark coal assets in return for equity, the Australian miner confirmed that the two parties had held talks but said that was a routine thing.

It said that while there were some synergies with Shenhua, it had not received any proposal from the Chinese miner.

10:30am: Billabong's share slump has hit double-digit figures - the stock is now down 12.2 per cent at 86 cents and has fallen as much as 15.3 per cent.

10:22am: 'Tis the season to be giving, as Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg is demonstrating. The 28-year-old Facebook billionaire says he is donating nearly $US500 million ($A476.5 million) in stock to a Silicon Valley charity to focus on health and education issues.

The gift of 18 million Facebook shares is valued at $US498.8 million based on their closing stock price on Tuesday, when Zuckerberg, 28, made the donation. The beneficiary is the Silicon Valley Community Foundation, a nonprofit that works with donors to allocate their gifts.

This comes as Facebook's newly-acquired photo sharing app, Instagram, tells users that their pictures no longer belong to them and that they can be sold by Instagram without permission or compensation.

10:08am:Today's main piece of economics data has arrived, and it shows Australia’s economic growth is likely to slow in the near future.

The Westpac-Melbourne Institute leading index of economic activity has reported a fall in the annualised growth rate to 2.9 per cent in October, from 4.1 per cent in September.

The figure is fairly close to the index’ long-term trend of 2.7 per cent. The index tracks growth in the Australian economy three to nine months into the future.

Westpac chief economist Bill Evans said the data was disappointing, compared to the previous reading.

‘‘Last month, we were encouraged that the growth rate in the index was lifting and pointing to a stronger growth pace than we had factored into our forecasts,’’ he said.

‘‘Unfortunately, this lift in the growth pace has now faded and is more in line with our views around the likely growth momentum in the Australian economy in 2013.’’

10:03am:Billabong shares are down heavily after coming out of a trading halt. They've lost as much as 7.14 per cent, or 7 cents, to 91 cents. More here.

Just four weeks ago Sims forecast its underlying earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) in the six months to the end of December to be in the range of $110 million to $120 million.

But it said continued challenging market conditions had forced it to reduce its forecast. Sims now expects EBITDA in the range of $87 million to $97 million in the six months to December.

Sims is the world’s largest listed metal recycler. A short time ago, Sims shares were down 21 cents, or 2.3 per cent, at $9.10.

US private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management is selling gunmaker Freedom Group, whose Bushmaster AR-15 rifle was used in the Newtown school massacre last week.

The California State Teachers' Retirement System (CalSTRS) said on Monday it was reviewing its investment with Cerberus in the wake of Friday's shooting, in which a gunman killed 20 children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School and then took his own life.

Dick's Sporting Goods pulled all guns from its store closest to the site of the massacre in Newtown, Connecticut, and suspended the sale of certain kinds of semi-automatic rifles from its chains nationwide.

9:43am: As the market capitalisation of CBA looms tantalisingly close to the $100 billion, according to Bloomberg, its shares have failed to benefit from the rising sentiment today. CBA is currently worth $98.892, well ahead of its rivals.

But the other big banks are higher in opening trade:

CBA is 0.07% lower to $61.41

ANZ is 0.24% higher to $24.57

NAB is 0.57% higher to $24.74

Westpac is 0.62% higher to $25.97

9:40am: Among the blue chips, the big miners are the main beneficiaries of the optimism on markets this morning:

BHP is 1.04% higher to $37.04

Rio is 2.06% higher to $66.03

Fortescue is 1.74% higher to $4.68

9:28am: Here's a thought:

While it's now overbought, should we get a period of consolidation ahead, there's nothing stopping the #XJO from hitting 4976 in Q1 #ausbiz

The takeover offer is at risk of being withdrawn after details of his proposal were reported by media before the company informed the market of its details.

‘‘The proposal also states that if confidentiality in the proposal is lost, for any reason, the proposal is withdrawn with immediate effect,’’ Billabong said.

The company said it would check with Mr Naude and his financial partners if they intended to withdraw the proposal given the loss of confidentiality.

‘‘If the proposal is not withdrawn, the Billabong board will proceed to consider the proposal and its terms, and will update the market in due course,’’ the company said.

9:23am: Looking now at the early gainers and Paladin Energy is having another bumper day following the election of a nuclear-friendly government in Japan on the weekend. It has gained 4.6 per cent today, following an 8 per cent on Monday and then 12.4 per cent yesterday:

Other strong performers on the ASX2oo include:

Bathurst: +5.88%

Linc: +4.85%

NRW Holdings: +4.8%

Ten: +3.57%

Iluka: +3.13%

Whitehaven: +3.12%

9:17am: Today's early gains take the ASX200 to the highest points since 11 July, 2011.

All sectors on the benchmark index are higher, with health leading the charge:

Health: +1.26%

Materials: +0.77%

Consumer staples: +0.75%

Energy: +0.73%

Consumer disc.: +0.6%

Financials: +0.45%

9:12am: In early trade, the All Ordinaries index is 25.6 points higher, or 0.6 per cent, to 4636.1, while the benchmark S&P/ASX200 is 26.3 points higher, or 0.6 per cent, to 4621.5.

9:07am:Whitehaven Coal has held talks with China’s largest coal company, Shenhua Group, but no offers are on the table.

Responding to speculation about Shenhua wanting to buy Whitehaven’s Watermark coal assets in return for equity, the Australian miner said it routinely held talks with other coal companies about possible business development opportunities.

It said that while there were some synergies with Shenhua, it had not received any proposal from the Chinese miner.

‘‘Whitehaven has had such discussions at various times with Shenhua, because of the obvious potential synergies between the assets of each company in the Gunnedah Basin,’’ Whitehaven said in a statement today.

9:01am: Some analyst rating changes for today:

Goodman Fielder cut to underperform at Credit Suisse

Whitehaven Coal rated new outperform at CIMB

Bandanna Energy rated new buy at Octa Phillip Securities

Ansell cut to neutral at Normura

Paladin Energy raised to buy at UBS

Sims Metal Management rated new neutral at Nomura

9:00am:Surfwear retailer Billabong has released details of its latest buyout offer, and has revealed it is considering a $527 million takeover offer from one of its former executives. And there is a kickere - it has downgraded its full-year earnings guidance.

Former board member Paul Naude has offered $1.10 for each Billabong share, as part of a consortium made up of New-York based Sycamore Partners and Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

It is the fifth takeover offer for the troubled retailer in 2012.Billabong said it was considering the offer, which carries many conditions and is subject to completion of due diligence, despite progress being made in the company’s transformation plans.

More to come.

8:55am: Cameron Peacock at IG Markets says the numbers in the US budget fracas ‘‘are irrelevant .. and will change numerous times before a final deal is settled on’’:

What is important and what is driving the market higher is that the two parties are now in constructive discussions over specific tax levels and spending programmes and working towards a common middle ground.

And here are his view on how the ASX is going to perform early today:

Today looks like we could be set for our first close above this level since late July last year. Gains today are likely to be broad based with solid contributions again expected from the materials and energy sectors as investors continue to rotate out of defensive names and into more cyclical/growth sectors.

Gold names could be one sub-sector of the materials space exempt from today’s rally after the commodity’s US $30 drop overnight to current levels around US$1670.

8:50am: Looking a bit more closely at the overnight action, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index reached its the highest level in two months after President Obama lowered his tax revenue demand by $US200 billion and offered to start tax rate increases at $US400,000 in income instead of $US250,000, moving closer to a budget deal with House Speaker John Boehner.

As we report here, the president's revised plan would raise $US1.2 trillion in taxes in the next decade and cut $US1.22 trillion in spending, said a person familiar with the talks.

Obama wants a large enough debt ceiling increase for the next two years and would accept a new inflation yardstick that would reduce Social Security cost-of-living increases, said the person, who sought anonymity.

8:47am: Locally today, shares are set go up, up and, if not away, then possibly to a new 2012 high. The strength of the open depends on how convinced local investors are about progress on teh US budget talks, but if the mood of their offshore counterparts is any guide, the Santa rally looks set to continue. Here's a quick not from ANZ Research on the overnight action:

Market activity remains light ahead of the Christmas period. Signs of progress being made on US fiscal cliff negotiations saw European equities gain around ½%, while US stocks outperformed with the S&P 500 trading 0.9% higher.

In Australia today, the DEWR skilled vacancies series is released for November – we will be watching for confirmation of the recent weakness in Western Australia and Queensland and in mining and related sectors seen in the SEEK job advertising series. The key events for offshore markets will be the December IFO survey and US building permits and housing starts data for November.

8:43am: For a comprehensive look at this morning’s business news, check today’s need2know. Here are this morning’s key markets numbers:

The SPI was 29 points higher at 4631

The $A was trading at $US1.0531

In late trade, the S&P500 added 1.15% to 1446.79

In Europe, the FTSE100 added 0.4% to 5935.90

China iron ore was flat at $US132.20 a metric tonne

Gold lost $US27.50 to $US1670.70 an ounce

WTI crude oil added 57 US cent to $US87.77 a barrel

RJ/CRB commodities index added 0.22% to 295.54

8:37am: Good morning all. Welcome to the Markets Live blog for Wednesday.

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Featured comment:

The market is rising on pure speculation now... without the known cure for Americas imense debt... what are investors (spruikers) placing their hopes on? Take the big 4 profiteers out of the equation and the ASX is essentially trading at 3 year lows. How many stocks have dropped 50% or more since the 5000 mark was last reached?? More than I can count. 2013 this will be fun!

I missed the bloody drop, but got out at 7:15. Still in good profit than heavens.

Commenter

Another Grump

Location

Melb

Date and time

December 19, 2012, 3:02PM

Oz Minerals dropping 9%, Telstra suddenly increasing by 4 cents in half an hour. It is a curious world and it is getting curiouser and curiouser. What causes these fluctuations? Who knows - imperfect flow of market information or lo and behold a bit of old fashioned market manipulation.

Commenter

Confused

Location

Date and time

December 19, 2012, 3:00PM

Sudden unexplained OZL collapse with massive volumes. Let's see, weakish guidance and the end of the year coming up, somebody does large sell and the high speed bots go berserk....???? Machine induced instability, surely not!

Commenter

Catch 22

Location

Explanation Wanted

Date and time

December 19, 2012, 3:27PM

@allan. How's the shorting of the banks working out for you???

Commenter

LOL@peoplewhothinktheyknow

Location

coogee

Date and time

December 19, 2012, 1:28PM

CBA short is slightly out of the money. Betting on a big fall ahead. Thanks for following my posts and for being a fan.

Commenter

Allan

Location

Prahran

Date and time

December 19, 2012, 1:53PM

Oh and I see you think you know it won't fall. You know.

Commenter

Allan

Location

Prahran

Date and time

December 19, 2012, 1:59PM

@Allan

Get ready for the biggest housing crash this country has ever seen. If you haven't liquidated property, bought $US and shorted the banks you're missing the main game. 18/5/12 Allan

You have being waiting 7 months now Allan. Must be hard to be never wrong

see you in 2013

Commenter

Fan

Location

Date and time

December 19, 2012, 2:15PM

It's always fun baiting poor old Allan.He's like a gold fish... 7 second memory.or one of those blow up plastic things with water in it, that you keep hitting and it keeps bouncing back.

Commenter

Econorat

Location

Sydney

Date and time

December 19, 2012, 3:29PM

No not waiting, those shorts were closed already. Now those shorts have now been reloaded. Geez, try to keep up.

Oh and if you don't know there's a housing bubble here's a picture for you:

Econorat you don't post much any more. Still looking for a trade surplus? February you said. ROFLMAO! Carp.

Commenter

Allan

Location

Prahran

Date and time

December 19, 2012, 3:56PM

I see the Nikkei has gone up 1400 points in the last month. See what an election can do. Can't wait till the 26/10/2013 to have our day. Goodbye Julia you are the weakest link!

Commenter

Jonaze

Location

Sydney

Date and time

December 19, 2012, 12:10PM

all ords hitting 5000, maybe 6000? The sky is the limit once the people dump Gillard and Swan!

Commenter

panda

Location

perth

Date and time

December 19, 2012, 1:42PM

The definition of Hyperbole.

Claiming "Markets Live: Billabong shares wiped out" when in reality it is a 10% slide.

Back to English comprehension classes for someone at the Age.

Ed: Journos love a pun.

Commenter

Joe

Location

Geelong

Date and time

December 19, 2012, 12:02PM

$10 to 87c is a wipeout in anyone's books. They hit a reef, got smashed to pieces and are sinking to the bottom.

Commenter

Allan

Location

Prahran

Date and time

December 19, 2012, 12:28PM

America is working out debt ceiling Europe getting better Greece upgraded Chinese growth next year of at least 7.5% Dow up two days in a row over 100 points spi up 29 and look at us pathetic My pet snail climbs up faster than the ASX. and he's got no legs.

Commenter

Jonaze

Location

Sydney

Date and time

December 19, 2012, 11:57AM

The Nice Chinese are saying they intend to hold the growth rate on an even keel next year instead of accelarating it as many pundits were predicting. Wonder what that's gonna do to the mining stocks? FMG still headed for a (sustainable) $5 ? Do we still believe the honourable intentions of the Nice Chinese? Mmmm

Commenter

Catch 22

Location

Date and time

December 19, 2012, 11:27AM

Intrpid mines another compant burnt ny doing business in countries where they have no hope of getting legal certainty about ownership, regulation or anything else. Their gold mine in Indonesia has been sold from under them by unscrupulous locals. They should ge together with Lynas and compare notes on how to be taken for a ride.

Oh and happy days, CSR is $2 again, same as it was in 1980. Yippee!

Commenter

Allan

Location

Prahran

Date and time

December 19, 2012, 11:19AM

"Intrpid mines another compant burnt ny"Interesting stuff Allan you said the other day that you could spell !Cheers

Commenter

Opto

Location

who else

Date and time

December 19, 2012, 11:55AM

Still smarting about LINK huh? Did you make 20% on the short at least?

Commenter

Allan

Location

Prahran

Date and time

December 19, 2012, 12:24PM

I do not believe in shorting Allan and never will do it. Just because it is legally allowed does not make it right. It is understandable that there needs to be checks and balances in the system. However to allow shareholders to be literally crushed within by this type of activity for profit begs the question. In fact many activities that are allowed in this market are questionable.

Commenter

Opto

Location

Hi

Date and time

December 19, 2012, 12:44PM

I see, so the market is rigged but despite that you still think you're going to make a profit. Sanity check table 4!

Commenter

Allan

Location

Prahran

Date and time

December 19, 2012, 1:03PM

Geez Opto,

You sure are a sentimental man.Aren't we all in this to make money? If Long is working for you then let it be, same goes for short. Or be flexible, "be water my friend".

Commenter

got brain

Location

Date and time

December 19, 2012, 1:47PM

Oh you poor thing been doing a bit of self diagnosis! FMG is holding up pretty good hey? How is that short going buying more perhaps !Cheers

Commenter

Opto

Location

Hi again

Date and time

December 19, 2012, 2:28PM

Never heard of a short cover for a long? Newbie. And yep at 4.70.

Commenter

Allan

Location

Prahran

Date and time

December 19, 2012, 3:54PM

Our imminent CSR Shareholder has got his Christmas wish of $2 a share. Pleased for you. Nice to see the market heading up isn't it ? FMG is holding up there after a slightly premature rush to the $4.70's Good stuff !Cheers

Commenter

Opto

Location

Hi

Date and time

December 19, 2012, 10:47AM

LOL, long FMG since $3.4. Whooping 34%, why short when you can earn actual money for long after a crash ? Wheeee :)

Commenter

got brain

Location

Date and time

December 19, 2012, 12:18PM

When FMG was $3.40 you posted "Seriously... don't think FMG has many options at the current IO price. I cut loss at 2% after the previous bounce and so glad I did... Time shall tell"

hmm, if you don't keep track, how do you even know what I typed hmm? Oh let me explain for you, in our human factor field, it's called subliminal message (or a sub type of it to be exact). You may deny it but you did remember it.

And did you really scroll through all the results of google to find the post like you claimed? Thx for being a fan. <3

Commenter

got brain

Location

Date and time

December 19, 2012, 2:21PM

Huh? I read it six months ago. I don't choose to remember everything I read I just do. Not difficult.

Commenter

Allan

Location

Prahran

Date and time

December 19, 2012, 3:51PM

If all these mumbo jumbo comments were to be multiplied by 16847 the market will still go up.

Commenter

Another smarty

Location

Date and time

December 19, 2012, 10:46AM

Then Jonaze would finally be pleased!

Commenter

PDJ

Location

Date and time

December 19, 2012, 11:22AM

Back to the Sun-Herald with you, Mr Smarty

Commenter

Another Grump

Location

Melb

Date and time

December 19, 2012, 11:25AM

The market is rising on pure speculation now... without the known cure for Americas imense debt... what are investors (spruikers) placing their hopes on? Take the big 4 profiteers out of the equation and the ASX is essentially trading at 3 year lows. How many stocks have dropped 50% or more since the 5000 mark was last reached?? More than I can count. 2013 this will be fun!

Commenter

Liberator

Location

SEQLD

Date and time

December 19, 2012, 10:26AM

Those people writing the headlines on the Cliff every day really need to get a grip, and do some serious research. Every day it changes, and even when it does not change we have some turkey saying that buyers are confident be cause talks are ongoing. Meanwhile the market moves to its own, ridiculous, beat regardless of the state of talks. Is this the new millenium bug ?.

Commenter

Another Grump

Location

Melb

Date and time

December 19, 2012, 10:12AM

Surprised that BBG mgmt thinks it is appropriate for BBG shares to trade again until the market knows if the bidder will waive the secrecy provsion of the offer.

Good example of an uninformed market where insiders can make easy money. Hope ASIC is watching closely...

Chances are the approach will be made again by the end of year. It also wouldn't surprise me if the bidder (or their associates / counterparties) were responsible for leaking the bid to the AFR.

The ongoing strength behind the TEN network's share price amazes me... you'd think any buyers would wait till after the retail offer to stock up given the high probability of selling to fund acceptances... (plus any dumping by sub-underwriters to the retail offer) Perhaps all the buying is just an underwriter to the offer propping up the share price to limit their take up of the retail offer.

Either way looks like a v'tempting short right now. Some might even say the short of the year - if it didn't look like we might need to wait till late Jan / Feb to close the short... (short of the year is a v'big call I know)

Perhaps this might not be a bad time to run through what other bloggers think has been the best short of the year so far? FMG and ARI have been strong shorts earlier in the year when the iron ore price was dropping... what are the other contenders?

Commenter

Seriously...

Location

Date and time

December 19, 2012, 9:21AM

Hi Seriously, i dont trade shorts but LNC would have to have been a good one.

Commenter

Another Grump

Location

Melb

Date and time

December 19, 2012, 10:07AM

There is no short to be made as shares are blatantly manipulated, and the index ramped every single day after open. There can be no correction at this point, only ever higher ramps until catastrophic crash.

Commenter

Don't try to play in a rigged game, this is not even a casino any more

Location

Date and time

December 19, 2012, 10:10AM

Or any of the rare earths prospects!

Commenter

Liberator

Location

SEQLD

Date and time

December 19, 2012, 10:13AM

Are you serious? The fastest way to lose money is to short hoping for a ka boom.Wheras putting your chips on long and riding the boom is childs play.Let us know if you ever have a go.

Commenter

Logic

Location

Date and time

December 19, 2012, 10:38AM

I would be cautious about opening shorts now while this totally rational and non-manipulated looking rally is continuing. There is a long way to the bottom and it won't happen in one day. I'm being patient and waiting it out :)

Commenter

panda

Location

perth

Date and time

December 19, 2012, 11:59AM

The last trade I done - about 5 weeks ago - was a nice short on the XJO. The trade before that was a short on NAB but I only got in halfway on the down... Still beats the two longs I ran and both lost the previous month!!